In March 2021, around 100 organizations came together under the banner of Soochna Evum Rozgar Abhiyan in Jaipur – the capital city of India’s largest state Rajasthan — to demand that the State passes a law on social accountability and transparency. In December 2021, the organizations started a march covering 18 of the State’s 33 districts mobilizing people. In each district, the activists addressed a range of issues such as the need to protect whistleblowers, the right to education and healthcare, delivery of rations, payment of pensions, the effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act which recognizes the rights of tribal and other forest dwelling communities and the need to hold officials accountable when the delivery of schemes for citizens suffers.

The beginning of the agitation goes back to 2015 when grassroots activists realized the dire need for a law which would empower citizens to question the Government on its lack of administrative accountability. Despite the initial assurance of the Indian National Congress to bring in the law once it would come to power, the promise is still pending since it was elected in 2018.

In this interview with Ritwika Mitra, Nikhil Dey – the founder of workers-led organization Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan that is at the helm of the protests in the State – speaks of the need of a sustainable movement to bring about change.